Trump Is Pushing Ukraine to Surrender to Russia, Zelensky Says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he didn't want to believe that Washington wanted an end to the war at Ukraine's expense. "But that's how it looks," he added.

President Trump is trying to force Ukraine to surrender in the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in an interview published on Sunday, as a deepening feud between the two leaders drives their relations to new lows.

"I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate," Mr. Zelensky told Bloomberg News. He was referring to a string of measures in recent days by the Trump administration that could bolster Russia's war machine while squeezing Ukraine's ability to fight.

Mr. Zelensky added that he did not want to believe that Washington was seeking a quicker end to the war at Ukraine's expense. "But that's how it looks," he said.

His comments capped a week in which the leaders traded some of their harshest words yet. Mr. Zelensky said that Mr. Trump had an instinctive affinity for autocrats, a pointed allusion to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, while the U.S. leader urged Ukrainians to vote Mr. Zelensky out of office.

Mr. Zelensky on Sunday appeared to tell the NBC show "Meet the Press" that he would run in a wartime presidential election, if one took place. It was the first time he suggested this publicly, after leaving the question open for months.

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But he played down the prospect of holding a vote during the war. Russia has repeatedly refused a cease-fire that would allow people to cast ballots, and a vast majority of Ukrainians oppose holding elections in wartime.

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